Jamie Ward and Matt Mills: Two Nottingham Forest signings likely to be unveiled

With the calendar turning to July 1, players out of contract are officially free to join new clubs.

Nottingham Forest are expected to officially unveil two players, whose services they have unofficially secured.

Ex-Bolton Wanderers centre-back Matt Mills and former Derby County winger Jamie Ward are both to join Dougie Freedman's side.

The Nottingham Post reported on Monday that both Mills and Ward are ready to begin their Forest careers, but have been unable to take part in pre-season training so far.

This is due to change tomorrow (Wed 1st) with their contracts with Bolton and Derby expired.

Jamie Ward's arrival is a particular talking point given he had been with East Midlands rivals Derby since 2011, before his recent release.

Forest have kept quiet officially with regard to Ward, although the BBC reported in late May that he was in talks with sign with the club.

The Nottingham Post reported at the start of June that Matt Mills had agreed to sign, with the club beating off competition from Leeds United, but again the club have made no formal announcement, due to the fact he was still under (an expiring) contract.

Dan Coombs

Dan Coombs has been writing for HITC Sport full time since 2012 and has helped the website grow it's audience considerably during this period, while managing a team of writers. He has interviewed high profile names including Stuart Pearce and his work has been cited in Javier Hernandez's biography. In addition to football, Dan is a big fan of the NFL and NBA.